Thursday, September 27, 2012

quatrain 67

From Sunlight, three versions of quatrain #67:
Sometimes I feel like a king,
sometimes I moan in my own prison.
Swaying between these states
I can't be proud of myself.
This "I" is a figment of my imagination.

Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
I thought I had self-control,
so I regretted times I didn't.

With that considering over, the one thing I know
is I don't know who I am.

Version by Coleman Barks
"Unseen Rain"
there was a time
when my thought
soared as a king
or a time when I mourned
like a prisoner
those days are gone
and I have promised
not to take myself
seriously again

Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame

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Thursday, September 13, 2012

quatrain 62

From Sunlight, three versions of quatrain #62:
If you want to live, leave your banks,
as a small stream enters the Oxus, miles wide,
or as cattle moving around a millstone
suddenly circle to the top of the sphere.

Version by Coleman Barks
"Unseen Rain"
Are you searching for your soul?
Then come out of your prison.
Leave the stream and join the river
that flows into the ocean.
Absorbed in this world
you’ve made it your burden.
Rise above this world.
There is another vision…

Translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved
if you want to find yourself
leave yourself alone
wade in no little creek
swim in the big flow
you are that bull
who carries the world
revolt for once
and topple the globe.

Translation by Nader Khalili
Rumi, Dancing the Flame

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